SHARE THIS SHOW:
RELATED CONVERSATIONS:
RECENTLY ON TOL:
The TOL Blog
TAGS:
Staff Pick: Brian Doyle
Each morning, after each show, I try to take a minute and think about what just happened. I think about what worked well that day, what didn't, and what I'm going to remember from that particular hour of conversation.
But already in the middle of our September program with writer Brian Doyle, my mind was crowded with moments I wanted to remember.
Like when a caller, Amy, thanks him for The Wet Engine, a book about his infant son being born without one chamber of his heart. "A bit of a logistical problem" he called it, before talking about what the book meant to him. His tone caught his compassionate humor.
Or when he credits his wife (or rather, "the woman who married me," as he calls her) with knowing the secret to marriage. It's not sharing a bed or a bank account, he quotes her as saying, but witnessing. Seeing a partner's struggle and glory; seeing another soul at play.
And when he read Leap, the poem he wrote in response to 9/11.
In the middle of it all I remember thinking, geez, I have to listen back to this show. Later, that feeling was reinforced by listeners who told me of moments that made them pause, to think, or cry.
So here is a chance to hear it again.
Tagged as: books · brian doyle · northwest passages
Photo credit: Jerry Hart
-
hey erin thanks. i really really really wanted to sing the oregonness of oregon, or part of it -- the wet grace, the salt and shimmer, the shaggy humor, the amused endurance, the push past violence toward creativity -- something like that. i wanted to sing and roar a piece of this place and i am delighgted you smelled that. thanks. plus it's a huge kick to hve written t least a little of a book in gaelic -- i mean, how often do you get that chance, you know? brian doyle
-
I've appreciated these "replays." I'm a retired middle school science teacher and found it a pleasure to hear Mr. Doyle speak about stories. On the first day of each year I told my students that my goal for this year in their earth science experience was to have them wake up each morning with the earth and universe telling them stories. I taught earth science from an art and literature perspective. Our geology unit was especially fun. The varying paths of the rock cycle became plot frames. The description of rock characteristics became patterns for character descriptions. My students' creativity always energized me and made breaking open mysteries an adventure. Their papers and rock stories were always exciting reading for me.
-
Want to put your kids on to great science literature? Forget Doyle..nice enough. But try 'King Solomon's Ring' by Nobel Prize winning naturalist, Konrad Lorenz, 1952.
His wonderful book on nature, illustrated by several animal species, but mainly birds- Graylag geese and Jackdaws- will teach children more about nature, biology, ornithology, and basic science than any other writer I can think of. His manner of writing is a delight And full of humor that any (literate) child or adult can readily appreciate.
-
I am confused. Is there more than one Brian Doyle? Some info says he is a Canadian and is living there, others say he is from Lake Oswego, OR.
-
ah, there are many brian doyles. the most famous and best-selling writer Brian Doyle is indeed Canadian, a gentleman (I have spoken to him) and author of many young adult novels. Among other Brian Doyles are a famous Australian comedian, a former second baseman for the evil satanic despised detested arrogant oily smarmy New York Yankees, a noted astrophysicist (who also wrote a book), and an Olympic figure skater. I think there's also a Brian Doyle in Newberg, and I went to college with a Brian Doyle. "Not common," as my dad said, of the Doyles as a tribe, "but prolific."
-
Thanks so much for clearing that question up. Do I detect a dislike for the New York Yankees? I stayed in bed yesterday morning longer than necessary because I wanted to listen to your whole interview. I do not want to miss a word.........
-
Thanks so much for clearing that question up. I detect a dislike for the New York Yankees! You caused me to lay in bed longer than necessary yesterday morning because I wanted to listen to your whole interview. When you speak, I do not want to miss a word.........
-
heh heh heh the Yankees are a sneering arrogant money machine who despite their often admirable players (Jeter, Rivera, Oregon's own Scott Brosius) simply reek of a sort of adolescent self-absorption writ large. Yes, all teams are money-addled, and yes they have won (bought?) lots of titles, but there's a curious joylessness to them and their fans, isn't there? That sense of being entitled to titles, of being able to buy whatever player they want -- isn't A-Rod the perfect Yankee for who they are? Didn't you get a secret kick from Cliff Lee ignoring them? Didn't you get a secret kick from this year's titleists being led by a skinny skater dude instead of a steroid-riddled thug like Roger Clemens?
-
Comments are now closed.
I just picked up this book before I left for holiday travel to South Carolina. I tend to read books to get involved in a place, and this summer I was rereading Faulkner's The Unvanquished and then Absolom! Absolom!
I haven't finished reading Mink River yet, but I was astonished at how similar the writing is. I enjoy Mink River because it's of the place. I'm a new comer to Oregon, so I feel like this novel is helping me know Oregon.
The quote from Pavel Florensky on the cover and Worried Man's obsession with time are reminiscent of Faulkner: "Nothing ever happened and is finished." I also think that the town of Mink River is like Yoknapatawpha County.
What do you think?
I'm also thinking about sending the book to my Irish Literature professors. I know all the characters of the Tain and can follow along. I wish I knew something about Gaelic.
Great Book!
Erin Butler